An Electronic Program Guide (EPG) is an interactive, on-screen analog to TV listings found in local newspapers or other print media. The information contained in an EPG includes programming characteristics such as channel number, program title, start time, end time, elapsed time, time remaining, rating (if available), topic, theme, and a brief description of the program's content. EPGs are usually arranged in a two-dimensional table or grid format with time on one axis and channel numbers on the other axis. Unlike non-interactive guides that reside on a dedicated channel and merely scroll through the current programming on the other channels, EPGs allow viewers to select any channel at any time up to seven days forward. Further EPG features include the ability to highlight individual cells of the grid containing program information. Once highlighted the viewer can perform functions pertaining to that selected program. For instance, the viewer could instantly switch to that program if it is currently being aired. Viewers could also set up one touch video cassette recording (VCR) or the like if the television is properly configured and connected to a recording device.
Such EPGs are known in the art and described, for instance, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,353,121, 5,479,268, and 5,479,266 issued to Young et al. and assigned to StarSight Telecast, Inc. These patents are directed to television scheduling systems, or EPGs, in which a television display can be brought up by a viewer showing channel offerings in a table format. The cells of the table which form the columns and rows are irregular in length (row dimension) because not every program spans the same amount of time while the columns are regular in height. Typically, programs are broken down into 1/2 hour increments and a single program can last in excess of two hours. This is illustrated in FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,121 in which "Perfect Strangers" spans from 11:00 AM to 11:30 AM while in the row below "Sesame Street" spans the length of the grid covering in excess of 11/2 hours.
EPGs have been used extensively in digital systems such as Thomson DSS.TM. and StarSight.TM.. Up to this point such systems only display channels which are static, i.e., channels with unchanging formats. However, dynamic or changing channel formats are forthcoming and a system to accommodate these dynamic formats will be required. With the advent and proliferation of digital television, each broadcaster will likely be allotted a specific bandwidth within which the broadcaster can provide programs in multiple formats. For example, a broadcaster can utilize the bandwidth to air a program in a first format such as high definition television (HDTV) or in a second format such as standard definition television (SDTV). Because the bandwidth required for HDTV signals is greater than for SDTV signals, the bandwidth allocated for a typical channel can accommodate one HDTV program or a plurality of SDTV programs.
A single HDTV program will provide higher resolution picture quality to the viewer, but multiple SDTV programs allow the broadcaster to achieve greater revenue from advertisers since the bandwidth can be split among several programs instead of just one. One possible scenario would consist of a mix of HDTV and SDTV throughout the day for any given broadcaster. For instance, movies are more likely to be broadcast as HDTV in order to provide the viewer with a high quality product while talk shows, for instance, can be broadcast in SDTV with no appreciable reduction in quality.
A need exists for an EPG system that can display the proper program data for a channel providing multiple format programming without causing viewer confusion whether the channel is providing one program in one format or a plurality of programs in another format.